Tace I£i 



]■; \' O L U T I (_) X 



March, 1929 



EUOLUTCON 



A Joiinia! of Xatiirc 



To combat bigotry and iupentition and 



develop the open mind by popularizing 



natural ^cierr (^ 



Published monthly by 



Evolution Publishing Corporation 



96 Fifth Ave.. New York. N. Y. 



Tel.: Watkins 7587 



L. E. KATTERFELD, Managing Editor 



j*LLAN J"TRCVG PROMS. Science Editor 



Subscription rjte: One dollar per vcar 

 fn lists of five or more, fifty cents. 

 Foreign subscriptions ten cents extra. 



Single crpv 10c: 20 or more. 5c each. 



Entered as second class matter at the 

 Post Cffi-e at New York. N. Y.. Januarv 

 7. 1928. under the Act of March 3. 18 79. 



\()I.. ir. Xo. 



MARCH 1029 



NUMBER TWEL\'H 



Thi.s issue of EVOLUTIOX is nir 

 Number Twelve. Thus we complete our 

 "first year." It has been a hard battle, 

 and it has taken inore than a year to 

 do it, but thanks to the support of its 

 readers and writers EVOLUTION is 

 "carrying on''. 



We doubt that any magazine has had 

 contributions from more noted and 

 gifted WTiters during its first year than 

 E\OLL'TION. During the coming 

 year we expect to have articles from 

 the leading authorities in every field of 

 science. 



And we are sure that no journal as 

 young as ours has a more active and 

 enthusiastic body of supporters among 

 its readers. We now have over five 

 thousand paid subiscriptions, and *he 

 number is growing steadily. This is 

 being achieved through the volunteer 

 efforts of our readers and without work- 

 ing capital except as raised from month 

 to month. 



-\ reasonable period of this sort of 

 wnrk, and EVOLUTION will be on a 

 self-sustaining basis. Then we can under- 

 take larger campaigns of popular educa- 

 tion. 



This popular education must be multi- 

 plied an hundred fold to meet the coin- 

 ing need. Wherever defeated in the 

 legislatures, the fundamentalists are sure 

 to "appeal to the people" through re- 

 ferendum as they did in Arkansas. And 

 the only way to prevent them from 

 winning similar victories elsewhere is 

 l^ppiilar education. This is the reason 

 for the existence of EVOLUTION. 



NO FEBRUARY ISSUE 



To get the advantage of predating 

 we once more skip a month by naine, 

 although we do not skip a niiinber. We 

 expect to mail EVOLUTION the last 

 week of eacli month for the following 

 month. 



THE TEST OF TRUTH 

 Let us not forget that back of this 

 issue between Evolutionist and anti- 

 Kvolutionist is that greater issue be- 

 tween Scietitist and Fundamentalist, 

 "What is the test of truth?" Is it 

 agreement of opinion with observed 

 evidence, or with alleged authority ? 



Your scientist tests his theory by 

 its agreement with the whole body of 

 ofiserved facts of experience and ex- 

 periment. He alters no fact to suit his 

 theory and holds no theory as true in 

 the face of a single, stubborn, discrep- 

 ant fact, be it well authenticated and 

 vcrifialile. He submits his formulated 

 opinion to the test of fact as a matter 

 of course and asks you so to test it. 

 He claims for it no sanctity, no priv- 

 ileges, no immunity from examination, 

 criticism and attack. He welcomes eacli 

 new significant. fact ac<|uired and each 

 restatement of theory in closer agree- 

 ment with all known facts. He searches 

 Tor such truth eagerly, is overjoyed to 

 discover it and to proclaim his dis- 

 covery, but he does not ask that it 

 bear his brand, nor that he and his 

 opinions shall be given unquestioned 

 authority. Nor does he ask that truth 

 be pleasant, nor flattering, nor accord- 

 ing to previous bias. To the extent 

 that he may permit his wish and bias 

 to modify his opinions, he does not 

 represent the spirit of science. 



With your fundamentalist it is other- 

 wise. He prejudges the theory. His 

 test of its truth is its agreement with 

 the authority he happens to accept. He 

 claims that that authority is divine and 

 sacred from examination, criticism and 

 doubt. Ask him to prove the divinity 

 of his authority and he reiterates his 

 belief that it is divine, questions your 

 moral character for doubting him, 

 charges you with sacrilege and threat- 

 ens 3-ou with the dire consequences due 

 the faithless. He asks you to ac- 

 cept his opinion because he himself 

 accepts it. He makes his own belief, 

 that is to say, himself, the authority. 

 Differ from him and his alleged author- 

 ity and you are wrong, intellectually 

 and morally — and, of course, lost. 

 Agree with him and you are right and 

 saintly and saved. 



He claims that evolution is untrue 

 because he does not wish a "brutal 

 ape" for ancestor, just as his medieval 

 fundamentalist forbears denied that the 

 earth travelled about the sun because 

 they did not wish the habitation of 

 MAN removed from its central im- 

 portance in their universe. The incon- 

 venient evidence of biologic, geologic 

 and astronomic facts he denies or 

 ignores. He does not want free in- 

 quiry and unbiased teaching and dis- 

 cussion. He wants h i s opinion pro- 

 tected by law from doubt and criticism, 

 and confesses his lack of real faith in it 

 by his refusal to let it stand or fall 

 on its own merits. He makes himself the 

 sole authority on truth and then wonders 

 and berates because others will not take 

 him at his own measure. A. S. B. 



THE GREAT DEBATE 



The Great Debate between Rev. W. 

 B. Riley and Prof. Joseph McCabe on 

 the question "Resolved that Evolution 

 is True and Should be Taught in the 

 Schools," held in New York February 

 7th, passed off without bloodshed. 



The stenographic record of the festi- 

 vities, complete and verbatim, will be 

 published in EVOLUTION, beginning 

 with the next issue. We shall not anti- 

 cipate the arguments, except to assure 

 our readers that a real treat is in store 

 for them. 



The audience was overwhelmingly in 

 favor of McCabe. The vote was at least 

 ten to one for evolution. This was to 

 be expected, since the followers of Stra- 

 ton were most conspicuous by their ab- 

 sence, in the audience. How-ever. they 

 packed themselves in on the list of 

 judges since inadvertantly the "gate had 

 been left open," so to speak, and there 

 they voted for Riley by 17 to 12. 



The most interesting decision was 

 rendered by a group of 41 High School 

 students, who were also seated on the 

 platform to pass their own opinion 

 regarding the debate. They voted 35 to 

 6 in favor of McCabe. 



The favor of these young people, tlic 

 approval of Youth, means more to Pro- 

 fessor McCabe and EVOLUTION than 

 the anathemas of all the fundamentalist 

 preachers. 



Our own judgement of the arguments 

 presented is that nothing better can be 

 done for the cause of freedom of teach- 

 ing than to circulate tlie arguments made 

 by Rev. W. B. Riley exactly as delivered 

 in comparison with those of Professor 

 McCabe. So we'll print them in EVO- 

 LLTTION and depend upon YOU to get 

 your neighbors and friends to read thein. 



GEITING INTO ACTION 



The Science League of America is 

 girding its loins for battle with the 

 fundamentalists in the legislative halls. 

 The call to action is printed in another 

 column. Every evolutionist should an- 

 swer it. This work of the Science 

 League is absolutely essential to winning 

 freedom of research and teaching in 

 all the states. 



IMPORTANT TO HUMANITY 



By Professor F. A. E. CREW. 

 "What is more important to humanity 

 ... is the further e.x.tension and de- 

 mocratization of the evolutionary con- 

 cept. It was this that overthrew me- 

 dieval tlicology, and completed the en- 

 larging of the mental horizon of human- 

 ity. Man's notion of himself has 

 changed from that of a being originally 

 created and awaiting a day of reckoning 

 in a not too distant future, to that of a 

 being originating as part of organic na- 

 ture and set in a universe without begin- 

 ning and without end. The intellectual 

 revolution has emancipated countless 

 men from the bondage of authority. It 

 must free all. — From an article on "Bio- 

 logy and Education" in Xalitrc, January 

 12, 1929. 



